For conducting lessons over the Internet, your setup should allow smooth motion of the hand across the screen, virtually no lag between video and audio and the camera be setup at the height of your shoulders/sternum when standing to practice conducting.

As a consequence of COVID restrictions, much teaching has occurred over the Internet using video conferencing applications. This is a great enhancement to the delivery of conducting lessons. Conductors are spread throughout communities, around the state, across the nation and across the world. The technology can enable regular contact with conducting teachers, mentors and students rather than once every few years!

The setup of your video is important. The angle of the camera lenses can give a balanced view of size of gestures. The higher speed of the internet, the broadband, will help seeing the smooth movement of conducting gestures, especially showing smooth acceleration and deceleration of the conducting hand. Less lag as possible between sound and video is important as the conductor’s timing of a physical gesture is critical to evoking precision to the players. The sharpness of the picture is of less importance.

Here are some suggestions for an affordable video setup in your home.

INTERNET SPEED

• The speed of your home Internet broadband connection should allow smooth video of any conductor movements. The faster the speed for downloads and uploads, the better the experience. As a minimum, aim for Internet download speeds of 40 Mbps or higher, and upload speeds of 10Mbps or higher. From your web browser, do a Internet Speed Test.
• If your home Internet speed cannot be boosted enough, check the Internet speed of your mobile phone and your Internet broadband service. Choose whichever is faster! If your Internet speed is above 40Mbps, no worries! The following advice to reduce the load of your Internet video data is even more important.

WEB CAMERA

• You do not need to have a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera suitable for digital video, though these give a superior video for a very high price. If you have access to one, use it.
• Most people have a smart phone. If it is a recent model, it may be suitable to use it as a web camera. Do you have an Apple iPhone and runs iOS12 or higher? Reincubate’s Camo is a webcam app for iPhone and iPad to run as a web cam on a Mac or PC. It is a far superior experience than the inbuilt camera or an inexpensive webcam. You connect the phone to your computer via the standard Lightning to USB cable (but the cable may need to be longer so to allow for better positioning of the camera). It is free software that has to be downloaded on your mobile device. On your desktop/laptop computer you install the free software Camo Studio. For an additional subscription fee of around $USD40 you unlock more features but you don’t need the extra. This is highly recommended for students.
• This link will take you to Reincubate’s website which compares different webcams. https://reincubate.com/support/how-to/ultimate-webcam-dslr-mirrorless-iphone/#devices-tested
• Iriun Webcam is another provider of free software to use your iPhone or Android smart phone as a webcam. The phone software connects with your desktop computer as a wireless WebCam – no cables (except you may need to connect your charger to the phone).
• This link will take you to Iriun’s website. No additional software is needed for your desktop computer as it seamlessly connects into Zoom. https://iriun.com/
• No doubt other webcam on smart phone apps will become available for your type of recent smart phone.
• The inexpensive webcams and the typical built in cameras in laptop computers have inferior quality videos and would require extra lighting to make you look natural. Resolution is usually too low. The preferred refresh or frame rate should be 30 fps or higher.

CAMERA

Low light cameras. Most recent smart phone have low-light sensitivity. The pictures are clear and not grainy anymore! Have a smart phone with this capability will also save you money in buying LED ring-lights and mounting stands.

CAMERA MOUNTING

• If using a DSLR, these have mounting screw holes for fixing to any photographic mount or tripod.
• Mount your camera on a floor standing tripod is the ideal way. However these start at $USD60.
• Or mount your camera to a boom scissor arm that is attached to a desk will give you more adjustment to have your camera at the correct height.
• Or a desktop tripod such as Gorilla Tripod. Cheap desktop tripods for smart phones and microphones for around $25AU are fine.
• If mounting your smart phone, you will need a smart phone holder that has a screw fitting to attach to your floor standing tripod, boom scissor arm or desktop tripod. These can be simple and can cost $US20. See the following image below.

AUDIO

The microphone built into your devices is satisfactory for our purposes.

LIGHTING

If using a recent smart phone, the phone camera will probably have excellent automatic low light settings. General room light is sufficient. If you have a standard lamp with a diffuser, that can be place to one side at face level, it will reduce the shadows on your face that makes one look severe. Ring lights are designed for video conferencing, but are not necessary if you are using a recent smart phone. If using an inexpensive webcam or a DSLR, a ring light is essential. Avoid having a light source behind you. for example, with an open window behind you during the day.

AUDIO PLAYBACK

You will need audio playback that you can control for accompanying conducting exercises. This removes the problem of lag over the internet if your conducting and the music you are conducting are made at the same end. Your conducting video is made already synchronised to your audio if the audio is played in the same room as you.

The audio player, if a separate device, can be played into the room over speakers and recorded via your computer microphone and joined with your video into Zoom . Alternatively the audio can be played on your computer used for the video conference call and played over the speakers connected to it. The audio playback can be via speakers or headphone or ear buds. If wearing headphones or wired ear buds, tuck any cable down your back so they don’t get tangled with your baton.

FINE TUNING

It requires some experimentation to find the balance between have a smooth video of your conducting with a lower bandwidth. If the initial settings have a high frame rate, high audio resolution and high video resolution, the bandwidth will be high. If your internet connection or computer cannot handle the high bandwidth the video will stutter and the audio may crackle and drop out.

You can make some adjustments on your video conferencing application. Use the following as a guide. These instructions are for Zoom, but other applications will have similar setting panels.

• Find the setting panel for video. It is likely you can access it several ways.
  • In Zoom Video Conference Application on your main computer, at the bottom left of the main window there is a tab “Stop Video”. Click on it and look for Video Settings. Click on HD.
  • In Zoom, another way to the same Settings screen is in Preferences on the left top menu bar.
  • In Camo Studio on your main computer, in the main window the left side menu bar, there are a number of settings you can fine tune. Resolution, choose 720i, which is also called HD (High Definition). For the Lens, choose Wide (1.0x) rather than Selfie. Wide uses the rear camera, Selfie uses the front camera. Use the zoom setting to frame your picture.
• Frame Rate. The standard setting on Camo Studio is set to 30fps. This is as low as you want to go. The iPhone12 is set to 60 Hz refresh rate (fps). You can drop the Frame Rate in the phone’s settings. Halving the frame rate will half the amount of data sent over the Internet.
• Sample rate for sound. You may not be able to change the standard setting. 44.1KHz is the sample rate for CDs. No need for any higher setting.
• Setting Volume Levels. Often the microphone level is set automatically. If it is set manually, set the volume when testing the Zoom setup. Finding the optimum volume level will allow your voice to rise above the system and room or background noise.
  • In Zoom, the microphone volume should be set so when you are talking the loudest, most of the green lights should be showing. Slide the white dot to the best position.
  • In Zoom, test your computer speaker and when talking the loudest, most green lights should be showing.
  • When playing back audio in your studio, be sure that the playback is neither too soft nor too loud. The audio in Video Conferencing software, desktop computers and mobile devices have a small dynamic range and can be easily overloaded. The music and dialogue can get swallowed by the system noise. Set the volume out on the audio device playing the sound at around 7 or such that most green lights come on when the music is loud. If you are playing sound in a separate device, see that the your microphone volume is not too loud or too soft. You will have to try out the sound levels before you go online.
  • The use of headphones or ear buds have the advantage of not disturbing others in the next room. Adjust the audio playback to your headphone using the last volume control and that it is at the same volume as the audio coming to you via Zoom.
  • Mirror Video is a software feature that helps with copying conducting movements. Mirror video will switch left to right. It can be done at your end or at the other end of the feed. If you are learning by copying the conductor on the screen, it is very helpful for the video to behave as though you are conducting in front of the mirror, that is, your right hand is on the right side of the screen. Normally your right hand (and your teacher’s right hand is on the left side of your screen.
• All the other settings that can be adjusted are your own preference.

WALL MIRROR

Having a wall mirror where you practice is a great asset to your private learning. You can see clearly and get immediate feedback. Ideally the mirror should be 900mm x 600mm depending on your height. I mount one on a table or two chairs and set it as vertical as possible without falling over!

PLACEMENT OF CAMERA

Sometimes when having online lessons you will want to be close to your monitor seated, especially if you have a small screen. When conducting, you will be want to be back from the camera so your teacher can see the whole of you arm movements. At a minimum, the camera should show from your pockets to above your head and the fingers of both hands when stretched our sideways. You will probably be standing one to two metres back from your camera. The camera is best in landscape orientation rather than portrait. Using a boom scissor desk stand for your camera will make it easier to change from close up then out to position for videoing your conducting.

IN SUMMARY

In summary, for a cost effective video set up for Internet conducting lessons, choose the fastest internet connection you can get. Use your smart phone as a web camera as the quality is excellent. Mount the smart phone on a camera tripod or boom scissor arm with a smart phone holder. Aim your webcam so the lens is pointing towards you at shoulder height when you are standing for conducting. As smart phone cameras typically can see everything clearly, you don’t need have auto-focus. For picking up your voice, the microphone audio from the laptop, webcam, DSLR or mobile device is fine. It is an option to use and external microphone on a boom scissor stand as the sound is much better. Be able to play recordings and backing tracks from your mobile device and balance the sound levels. A large mirror will help you with your private conducting practice.